The sudden death of Malawian Vice-President Saulos Chilima in a military aircraft crash has plunged Malawi into fresh political uncertainty at a time when the country already faces deep economic decline and a looming election next year. Photo: Handout

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera confirmed the news of Vice President Saulos Chilima’s passing on Tuesday afternoon.

Chilima, along with nine others, lost their lives after the military plane they were traveling in crashed in Chikangawa Forest in Mzimba, in the northern part of the country.

The plane had been scheduled to land at Mzuzu Airport at 10:02 am but was unable to land due to poor visibility and was ordered to return to the capital.

However, aviation authorities lost contact with the aircraft after it went off the radar.

The sudden death of Malawian Vice-President Saulos Chilima in a military aircraft crash has plunged Malawi into fresh political uncertainty at a time when the country already faces deep economic decline and a looming election next year.

The plane carrying Chilima reportedly suffered a hard landing on Monday in a heavily forested area when it failed to land at Mzuzu Airport, just after 10:00 local time.

The Malawi Defence Force aircraft “went off the radar” after it left the capital, Lilongwe, the Malawian government announced on Monday evening.

Chilima was on his way to represent the government at the burial of former cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara, who died four days ago.

Malawi’s former first lady, Patricia Shanil Muluzi, also died in the accident.

In 2022, Chilima was arrested and charged with allegations that he accepted money in exchange for awarding government contracts. President Chakwera stripped his number 2 of all delegated powers in June 2022 after he was named in a $150 million corruption scandal.

This was not the first time that Chakwera and his vice-president had disagreed, with reports of growing tensions in local newspapers in January of that year.

The President cannot sack the vice-president, as his deputy serves in an elected position.

Chakwera and Chilima were elected in a historic 2020 re-run on an anti-corruption platform, with Chakwera stating, “Malawians deserve better.”

Chilima, who had served as vice-president since 2014, quit the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party under former President Arthur Peter Mutharika in 2018 and indicated he would run for president.

He said his administration would investigate alleged corruption among officials of the Mutharika government, in which he served as the number two in command, and that anyone at fault “will not be spared.”

However, he eventually allied with opposition leader now President Lazarus Chakwera, a former cleric who led the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

This marked a significant moment as the MCP became the first former ruling party in Malawi to stage a comeback.

The MCP was the ruling party at independence in 1964 under Hastings Kamuzu Banda and was the only legal party in the nation from 1966 to 1993.

In the May 2019 presidential election, Chilima secured third place in the vote.

Initially an ally of President Mutharika, who governed Malawi from 2014 to 2020, Chilima served as his Vice-President but later fell out with him during the election season.

Following their respective unsuccessful bids in 2019, Chilima and Chakwera joined forces, forming an alliance that ultimately led to Mutharika’s removal from office after the repeat election.

Chilima was in conflict with President Chakwera, whose administration has faced criticism for widespread corruption and economic decline despite promises made during the 2020 election campaign.

Chilima, aged 51, was a prominent political figure in Malawi and was expected to run in the upcoming elections, although he had not officially declared his candidacy.

His passing aboard a Dornier 228 light military aircraft marks the first high-profile death since Malawi’s new government took office in 2020.

The most significant political tragedy before this was in 2012 when former Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, who was the brother of Chakwera’s predecessor, passed away while in office towards the end of his presidential term.